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Title/Author

Knots and Crosses

Ian Rankin

Average Review Rating Average Rating 7/10 (1 Review)
Book Details

Publisher : Orion

Published : 2008

Copyright : Ian Rankin 2007

ISBN-10 : PB 0-7528-8353-4
ISBN-13 : PB 978-0-7528-8353-3

Publisher's Write-Up

The very first Rebus novel from the No.1 bestselling author.

'It was 28th April. Wet, naturally, the grass percolating water as John Rebus walked to the grave of his father, dead five years to the day.'

This is our first glimpse of the Scottish policeman with the puzzling name... before Ian Rankin hit the bestseller lists, before Rebus became a national institution...

A story of the brutal abduction and murder of young girls, at first it seems that Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is just one of many policemen hunting the killer. Then messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.

So begins the case that introduced the crime world to one of its most compelling characters. Whether you're turning the pages for the first time, or reliving the mystery, Knots and Crosses is unmissable reading.

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Reader Reviews

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Review by Ben Macnair (280217) Rating (7/10)

Review by Ben Macnair
Book Source: Not Known
Rating 7/10

Knots and Crosses is the book that introduced Inspector John Rebus to the world. His world weary cynicism, and unhealthy habits forming, but still not fully developed, but right away we are introduced to Rebus’s environment of Edinburgh, its crimes, criminals, and a way of interfering in his personal life.

Two young girls have been kidnapped, murdered, and a third is missing, perhaps heading towards the same fate. Rebus’s personal life has collapsed, his marriage is over, and his daughter is down south, with her mother, and then it starts to get more and more personal.

The post arrives, knotted strings and matchstick crosses, and no indication of where they came from. Rebus delves into his own past in the army to for the answers, and doesn’t like what he finds there. As he gets closer and closer to the truth, rubbing the powerful of Edinburgh the wrong way with his blunt charm, we learn more about Rebus’s, and how his time in the army affected him, and the identity of the murderer comes as a complete shock to both Rebus, and the reader.

Knots and Crosses is where it all started for Rebus, and although originally it was only meant to be a one off, Ian Ranking soon discovered that there was a lot more to Rebus than he thought. It has the same characters we all know, but in a less formed state, this is an embryonic Rebus, but all fans of crime fiction, and Scottish fiction will find something to love within these pages.
Ben Macnair (28th February 2017)

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